Greek Islands: The Rough Guide

by Mark Ellingham, Marc Dubin

Find your perfect island getaway with the most incisive and entertaining guidebook on the market. Whether you plan to island-hop around the Cyclades, explore Crete's classical sightsor find peace and quiet on Al�nissos, The Rough Guide to the Greek Islands will show you the ideal places to sleep, eat, drink, shop and visit along the way. - Independent, trusted reviews written with Rough Guides' trademark blend of humour, honesty and insight, to help you get the most out of your visit, with options to suit every budget. - Full-colour maps throughout - navigate the cobbled streets of Rhodes Old Town or plan a hiking route on N�ssyros without needing to get online. - Stunning images - a rich collection of inspiring colour photography. - Things not to miss - Rough Guides' rundown of the Greek Islands' best sights and experiences. - Itineraries - carefully planned routes to help you organize your trip. - Detailed regional coverage - whether off the beaten track or in more mainstream tourist destinations, this travel guide has in-depth practical advice for every step of the way. Areas covered include: Athens and the mainland ports, the Argo-Saronic Islands, the Cyclades, Crete, the Dodecanese, the East and North Aegean islands, the Sporades and �vvia, the Ionian Islands. Attractions include: the Acropolis, Knoss�s Palace (Crete), K�lymnos cliffs, Delos (Cyclades), Church of Ekatondapylian� (P�ros), Samari� Gorge (Crete), �lymbos village (K�rpathos), Shipwreck Bay (Z�kynthos), Meliss�ni Cave (Kefaloni�), Monastery of St John (P�tmos), S�mi harbour, and many more. - Basics - essential pre-departure practical information including getting there, local transport, accommodation, food and drink, health, the media, festivals, sports and outdoor activities, culture and etiquette, shopping and more. - Background information - a Contexts chapter devoted to history, archeology, wildlife, music and books, plus a handy language section and glossary, Make the Most of Your Time on Earth with The Rough Guide to the Greek Islands

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction

544 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1998

About the author

Mark Ellingham was born in Wiltshire, UK, in 1959. After leaving Bristol University in 1981, he was unable to find an interesting job and decided to create his own, writing the first Rough Guide (to Greece). He secured a publishing contract – Routledge paying an advance of £900 ($1800) – midway through writing it. The book was an immediate success and Mark and various friends set to work turning the Rough Guides into a series, producing a dozen further titles over the next five years.

In 1985, Mark and a group of Rough Guide writers and editors, including current travel publisher Martin Dunford, bought the series from Routledge and became independent publishers. They developed more than 200 titles, covering travel and reference subjects as diverse as world music and pregnancy, before selling the company to Penguin Books, in 2002.

Mark (and Martin) continued to run Rough Guides’ publishing at Penguin, 25 years on from that first title, and created a new one-off “ultimate travel experience” series – 25s – to mark the anniversary.

Mark is also a contributing editor for the world music magazine, Songlines, a director of the travel magazine, Wanderlust, and co-publisher of Sort Of Books, which have published bestselling books by Chris Stewart and Tove Jansson, among others. He lives in North London with his wife, Natania Jansz, who co-wrote the first Greece book and now runs Sort Of Books, and their son, Miles. Mark says his interests and passions are charted by the titles on the Rough Guide list, ranging through music, film, football, literature and science. He is currently involved in campaigns to raise awareness of the impact of aviation on Climate Change.

Mark left Rough Guides in 2007 but continues to work as a co-editor on the encyclopedic Rough Guide to World Music. He is also a contributing editor at Songlines World Music magazine, and runs a green and ethical publishing list for Profile Books.

Reviews

[T · Rating 4 out of 5]

This guide helps when planning an itinerary based on travel times and distance which is very handy.

[David Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book I read to research this post was The Rough Guide To The Greek Islands which is a very good book which I bought from a car boot sale. Greece has more islands than any countries except the Philippines & Indonesia and you could spend your entire life exploring just the inhabited ones and not get round all of them. Greece is predominantly made up of the mainland and the majority of the population live there. Athens airport in terms of area is the 3rd biggest airport in the world. Many of the islands have small airports and most of these have flights to Athens. Note the airport at least when this book came out in 2004 was poorly signposted and many passengers find it difficult to find out where they have to book in for connection flights. On Greek tv they broadcast tv series and films often from around the world with their original dialogue and subtitles. Corfu which I did do a blog post on at http://oldscratbag.com if you are reading this on a different site, it is one of the original holiday resorts having first become big in the 60's. Crete has the renovated ruin at Knossoss which is quite controversial because many think they took liberties with its accuracy although it is still very impressive. There is also the archaeological museum which is said to be the foremost Minoan museum in the world. There was an even older civilization called the Myceneans and these were over run by the Dorians who were the descendants of the great city state of Sparta. There is a famous gay resort at Mykonos which was the top gay resort on the Mediterranean but has been superceded by Sitges in Spain. Thassos had a problem with man made fires that ravaged much of the island in the early part of this century but there are still some forests and even some pine martens living in some of them. I really enjoyed this book although it is probably a little out of date but interesting nonetheless.

[Adrianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well researched and reliable The Rough Guide to the Greek Islands has been my unmistaken guide to the greek archipelago for many years. I still find the information in it relevant today, and use it for background cross-reference during my trips. I think, when, in our fast changing world, it eventually becomes obsolete, it will still stand out as a travel snaphot of the decade.